Rose and the Howler
by TheLeakyCauldronWrites
Summary: When faced with her father's anger and disapproval at their relationship, Rose goes to Scorpius for comfort.


When the red envelope landed with a thud on the dark wooden table in front of Rose that morning, her first thought was that the owl must have made a mistake. Rose was not the type of person to get a howler. She did her homework, kept her head down, didn't keep secrets - okay, well, maybe there was a few of those - and generally tried to stay out of trouble. The idea of angering her parents enough to warrant receiving the public humiliation of a howler had not even crossed her mind.

She looked up for the Scamander twins, thinking perhaps their latest well-intentioned scheme might have gotten them into trouble with their parents, but neither were present at the table. Most likely they'd slept in again. She was going to have to buy them an alarm clock or something.

However, if the letter wasn't for them, then who…?

She did not have to wait to find out. A second later, the red envelope impatiently rose into the air and a short piece of parchment, scribbled on in her father's handwriting, removed itself and hovered before her. There was a second of silence in which every head of every nearby student registered that someone had received a howler and turned to look at her… and then came the yelling.

"_Rose Weasley_! I've just heard from your younger brother about your relationship with that _Malfoy _and let me tell you, it stops right _now._How _dare _you consort with his kind? You should know it will only end in tears. And the fact that I had to hear it from your brother of all people! You were right not to tell me because I absolutely do _not _approve and I will asking your cousin to keep an eye on you from now on. You should be focussing on your studies, not— not—" Ron seemed lost for words for a moment. "—not _snogging _boys. Especially not _him. _I am very upset indeed."

There was a pause. Rose, frozen with embarrassment and shock, wondered if the world had stopped and she was about to be swallowed mercifully by the floor. Then the howler ripped itself up into little shreds and filtered down onto the table in front of her.

There were a few ripples of laughter and even some spontaneous applause, and Rose hide her face in her hands. She could not believe that that had just happened. Not only had she received her first - and wholly undeserved, in her opinion - howler, but Ron had announced her relationship to the whole school at once. Fabulous.

Her only coherent thought was that she was never, ever telling Hugo anything confidential ever again.

As the murmur of voices rose up around her once more, she remembered that her legs were in fact capable of movement and she got to her feet, then fled from the room, leaving an uneaten bowl of porridge behind her in among the debris of the letter.

Scorpius was halfway down the stairs from the Ravenclaw common room when Rose got there. Her cheeks were still tomato-red, her breathing uneven and ragged, like she was trying not to cry.

"Rose?" he asked, clearly confused. "What's happened?"

She collapsed into him, her arms around his shoulders and her head against his chest. He felt reassuringly solid, and the idea that her father wanted her to stop whatever she had with him made her fingers curl around the fabric of his robes with an almost frantic desperation. "You weren't there. It was _awful._Everyone was watching and now everyone knows and I can't _believe _Hugo told Dad, I _told _him not to say anything and I promised… oh god, Dad's really going to kill me—"

"Woah, woah, slow down, it's okay." Scorpius wrapped his arms around her gently, and then pulled back to look at her. "Everyone knows what? Why is your dad mad at you?" he asked, with a hint of worry in his voice at the last sentence. He'd always been quite wary of Ron, which no doubt had something to do with his own father's views.

"Hugo told him about us and he sent me a howler."

"He sent you a _howler?_" Now he was definitely worried. "About _me?_"

Rose nodded mutely, her eyes shining with tears.

"Oh." There was a small silence. "Well, there's one good thing about this."

She sniffled and looked up at him curiously. "What?" She didn't see how anything good could come from this at all.

"Well, now I can invite you around to my house in the summer without you having to lie about where you're going." He smiled at her hopefully.

Rose pulled away, folded her arms unhappily. She shook her head. "You don't get it," she said frustratedly. "He won't let me come. He said it would end in tears and I shouldn't be _consorting _with you." She almost laughed at the ridiculousness of her father's choice of words, even though it wasn't really funny at all. She looked down at her feet dejectedly.

Scorpius was being very quiet. When Rose looked up at him again, his face was strangely torn. He looked like he was trying very hard not to say something, or else not to cry.

"What?" she asked softly. "What is it?"

He ran a hand through his hair and looked away. "You're not— you're not going to listen to him are you?" he asked eventually, his voice strained.

Rose frowned. _That _was what he was worried about? She reached out and took his hand. "Don't be stupid," she sighed. "Of course I'm not."

He turned his gaze to her, and for a moment they just looked at each other. "He'll calm down," Scorpius said softly, breaking the silence. He squeezed her hand. "You'll see. He'll be fine."

"But what if he—"

"Once he meets me," Scorpius interrupted, shaking his head and smiling, "and I've used my _irresistible _charm and charisma on him, I'll win him around. You'll see."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Your _irresistible _charm?" she asked, laughing. It was amazing that he could make her laugh, even when her cheeks were still flushed and her throat still felt tight with the memory of her humiliation.

"Well, I charmed _you_, didn't I?"

"Oh, shut up. That doesn't count. I don't have a grudge against Malfoys."

"I should hope not," Scorpius said, raising his eyebrows. He leaned down a little - she hated how tall he was now - and pressed his lips to hers. "Or else I couldn't do _this_."

Rose's eyes fluttered closed, arguments forgotten for a moment as she returned his kiss. Who cared about what her parents thought, anyway? She imagined Ron's face if he could see her now, and this time the image of his mouth opening and closing speechlessly made her laugh.

"What?" Scorpius asked. "Is my kissing funny?"

She gave him a look. "I hope you're not going to win my family around the way you charm me."

He just rolled his eyes at her, smirked, and returned his lips to hers.


End file.
